The NCAA Tournament becomes a different event this week, transitioning from opening-weekend hyperactivity that appeals to those who pick winners based on mascots or colors to some serious basketball for serious basketball fans in Week 2.

In between lies that brief moment to enjoy both, as we note what happened and what's going to happen:

-- Top Human Interest Story, Part I: The game-winning, contested, 28-foot three-pointer hoisted by Western Kentucky's Ty Rogers against Drake on Friday changed an entire city.

Well, it's inaccurate to call Eddysville, Ky., Rogers' hometown, a city because it has only about 2,400 residents and Rogers' graduating class at Lyon County High School had all of 65 members.

Rogers played on the varsity starting in seventh grade and was the class valedictorian as a senior, when he also led the state in scoring.

He still had to walk on at Western Kentucky, but every move he makes on a basketball court is big news in Eddysville. The mayor had to interrupt a meeting with the town's water and sewer director so City Hall officials could gather round a computer to watch the final minutes of the Drake game. And when Rogers' shot went down, the students at Lyon County High went into spontaneous celebration.

Then the story got spooky when it was learned that Western Kentucky coach Darrin Horn found out about Rogers from Michael Fraliey, a former teammate of Horn's at Western Kentucky who was the Lyon County High girls basketball coach at the time.

Fraliey had hit a three-pointer with 9.1 seconds left to send the Hilltoppers' game against Michigan into overtime in 1995, which turned out to be Western Kentucky's last NCAA Tournament win until Rogers' three-pointer ended the drought.

-- Top Human Interest Story, Part II: Davidson's Stephen Curry has been the best player in the tournament, scoring 55 of his 70 tournament points in the second half of upsets of Gonzaga and Georgetown. Most everyone knows by now Curry got no recruiting interest from Atlantic Coast Conference schools even though he grew up in Charlotte, N.C. Even Virginia Tech, where his father, former NBA guard Dell Curry, went to school, wanted Stephen to walk on for a year before getting a scholarship. So Curry picked Davidson over Winthrop, and started his college career by committing 13 turnovers in his first game.

Now he has one of the softest shots you'll ever see.

"He'd shoot from 22 feet and his ball was like he shot it from 5," Gonzaga forward David Pendergraft said.

Most assume he learned to shoot from his father, one of the best three-point shooters ever. Not so. Stephen learned on his own through watching his dad play.

-- The Shocking Team: Villanova was the last team to receive one of the 34 at-large berths to the tournament. The coaches and players were so excited on March 16 when their team was announced, they did not even know which team they played. They finished tied for eighth in the 16-team Big East and had a five-game losing streak at midseason. But here they are, as a No. 12 seed, in the round of 16.

-- Top Matchup, Take I: Washington State vs. North Carolina. The Tar Heels have five high school McDonald's All-Americans on their squad with three more coming next season to give them a total of 53 all time. Washington State has no players who were even close to being McDonald's selections. Kyle Weaver did not get any Division I offers other than Washington State, and Taylor Rochestie was deciding among USF, Tulane and Tulsa before picking Tulane and later transferring to Washington State. Derrick Low received some interest, but he chose Washington State, even though he had not been to Pullman, Wash. Coach Tony Bennett made a deal with Low that if he got there and didn't like it, the Cougars would release him from his commitment. That, obviously, did not happen.

-- Top Matchup, Take II: Tennessee vs. Louisville. Vols coach Bruce Pearl and Louisville's Rick Pitino both love to press fullcourt, which suggests the game could be an end-to-end horse race with lots of scoring and turnovers.

-- Top Matchup, Local Edition: As was the case against Marquette, Stanford hopes its powerful frontcourt twosome of Brook and Robin Lopez can offset Texas' backcourt of A.J. Abrams and D.J. Augustin. The one difference between the Texas and Marquette guards is that the Longhorns' backcourt players can shoot three-pointers. Marquette was deficient in that department, which is why Stanford played a zone defense so effectively in the first half.

-- Top Indication of the Pressure of an NCAA Tournament: Augustin, an 81 percent career foul shooter who has been named to several All-America teams, shot an airball on a free-throw try with two seconds left and Texas leading Miami by two points.

Then there were 16 ...

Stanford

Opponent: Texas

Where: Houston

When: 4:25 p.m. Friday

-- Texas advances: The Longhorns let their big lead dwindle but hold off Miami. C5